MOSCOW – Russia’s Foreign Ministry reiterated Friday that it strongly denies claims by United Nations experts that Russian army trainers were concerned about the killing of civilians and looting in the Central African Republic.

In a written reaction to the Palestinian Authority’s request for comment, the ministry dismissed the allegations as unfounded and argued that they were aimed at “discrediting Russian efforts to stabilize the scenario in the Central African Republic and repair peace. “

A GROUP of U. N. experts tracking sanctions against the conflict-torn African country said in a 40-page report received Monday through The Associated Press that it has amassed testimony from a host of local officials, the government military and internal security forces. , and resources at the community level in various parts of the country. He said “excessive use of force, indiscriminate killings, schooling and large-scale looting” through Russian army instructors.

The panel said many officials and other resources reported that Russian instructors “often led rather than followed” Central African Republic troops as they developed in towns and villages in a counteroffensive opposed to rebels linked to former President François Bozizé. elections in December and then attempted to capture the strength of President Faustin Archange Touadera.

When asked about the previous report this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov categorically rejected the allegations as “still a lie. “

“Russian army advisers could not participate and did not participate in any killing or looting,” Peskov said on a conference call with reporters.

In its written comment sent to the Palestinian Authority on Friday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that Russian army instructors had been in the country at the request of the valid country and in accordance with UN rules.

He added that the task of the instructors is to exercise the Central African armed forces and “provide advice and humanitarian assistance to the country’s security forces. “He said his project had helped the Central African army defeat militants, reduce Central African army casualties and “take more effective measures for civilians. “

The ministry noted that “if insinuations about the instructors’ ‘abuses’ had been genuinely motivated and citizens had actively protested, the valid government of the Central African Republic would hardly have insisted on the additional presence of Russian specialists. “

The mineral-rich Central African Republic has faced fatal interfaith and intercommunal fighting since 2013. A peace agreement between the government and 14 insurgent teams signed in February 2019, but violence attributed to Bozizé and his allies threatens to nullify the agreement.

Hostilities erupted after the Constitutional Court rejected Bozizé’s candidacy for president in December and have continued since Touadera won a term at the end of the month with 53% of the vote.

Last week, the United States, Britain and France accused the Russian corps of workers in the Central African Republic of abusing civilians and obstructing U. N. peacekeeping, accusations that Russia angrily refuted.

Western powers have connected the Russian workforce to the notorious Wagner Group, a personal security company allegedly linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman who was indicted in the United States for interfering in the 2016 presidential election and whose corporations allegedly received lucrative mining contracts through CAR.

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